The Creevey Papers
Earl of Sefton to Thomas Creevey, 2 October 1825
“Croxteth, Oct. 2, 1825.
“. . . I cannot help congratulating you upon your
conversion to reform. I have been long convinced that nothing else will bring
down taxation and tythes, and therefore would not give a farthing for any other
remedy. . . . I hear our friend the Bear
Ellice must be a bankrupt; he is trying to defer the evil day,
but fall ![]()
| 94 | THE CREEVEY PAPERS | [Ch. IV. |
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he must. Did you read Cobbett’s life of Canning in the Statesman? What the devil does he mean by all
at once being so completely mollified, and complimenting his talents and
beauty? . . . Nothing can exceed the distress here among the farmers: 40 per
cent. reduction of rents is the lowest they talk of, and even then I
don’t believe they will be able to pay the remainder. Little Derby is very sore. Old Blackburne* begins to think everything is not
quite right; he even goes so far as to say he does not see how it will all
end.”
John Blackburne (1754-1833)
Of Orford Hall, the son of Thomas Blackburne (d. 1768); educated at Harrow, he was
Sheriff of Lancashire (1781) and was MP for Lancashire (1784-1830).
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
Edward Ellice (1783-1863)
British merchant with the Hudson's Bay Company and Whig MP for Coventry (1818-26,
1830-63); he was a friend of Sir Francis Burdett and John Cam Hobhouse.
The Statesman. (1806-1824). Radical London evening paper owned or edited by John Hunt (1806-09), W. M. Willet (1809),
John Scott (1809-14), Daniel Lovell (1814-17), Sampson Perry (1817-19), and David Carey
(1819-24); it was incorporated into the
Globe and Traveller.
